Alice Down the Rabbit Hole
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: [AU] Tohru follows a orange cat and finds herself in a world where people turn into animals and vice versa...and there's a certain God who's not pleased she's there at all.
1. Following the Cat to Nowhere

**A/N:** Written for

Diversity Writing Challenge, h51 – write a fairytale retelling  
Advent Calendar 2015, Day 25 - Roll up to five dice (that means you only have to roll one or two if you want). That number is how many chapters your fic will have. Rolls: (1)5=5  
Chapter Set Boot Camp, #042 – 5 chapters

Short and more or less lighthearted idea that cropped up from a poem I wrote earlier in which I called Tohru Alice… So here's Tohru in Wonderland…kind of.

* * *

 **Alice Down the Rabbit Hole**  
 _Chapter 1 – Following the Cat to Nowhere_

My name's Honda Tohru. At the moment, I'm living on a tent in the woods.

Actually, at the moment I'm not sure where I am, but I'll get back to that. First, the tent in the woods.

See, my mother passed away this May. It was just the two of us since my father passed away when I was three years old. I'd been living with my grandfather after that, but he's getting his house remodelled at the moment and moving in with one of my aunts. When he asked if I had a place to stay, I told him not to worry.

Of course, I didn't have a place to stay since Hana-chan's got a big family and Uo-chan hasn't got much space in her apartment. But that's okay! I can manage in the tent and I've been managing pretty well. It's actually pretty nice, listening to the animals when I fall asleep, not having much housework after coming home from work…but I like housework. It calms me. My mother says it's part of what will make me a good housewife one day, but that's a long way off. Still, there's always cleaning to do at work so I guess it's alright. And it won't be forever. I'm getting used to the insects crawling in, and the wind. And it'll be good practice for when I'm on my own after school as well. I'll just enjoy the fun parts and smile through the rest, and become stronger from it all (hopefully) because that's the sort of person I am.

But to get back to that, I'll have to find the tent again. I'm lost, somehow. Though I better get to school first, and who knows how late it is now –

 _I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!_

Oh yes. A cat raced past my tent, yelling exactly that.

It's a really pretty cat as well. Orange, though rather on the small side. I'd have loved to take him (or her) back to the tent and give him some milk, but he's raced off before I could even call to him.

So I followed. I had time before school. Or I thought I did. At some point in following the orange cat, my watch stopped.

And then I lost the cat as well. The woods were pretty thick by that point, and not an area I'd been in before. I went a little further, just to try and find a landmark or something – and found a house.

I didn't realise people lived here. So I went to ask them for help. I'd made sure my tent was in an easy to find place just in case I did wind up lost. After all, between leaving for school early in the morning and coming back from work late at night, I didn't want to risk completely bypassing my tent in the dark. So I could ask for directions easily enough.

Except things didn't go quite according to plan _there_ either. This time though, it's entirely my fault.

Okay, the last time is entirely my fault as well, following the cute orange cat. But I can't help it. I love cats. And whenever my mother would tell me the tale of the Zodiac, I'd cry because the cat was tricked and left out of the banquet.

And speaking of the tale of the Zodiac, there were twelve painted figurines drying on the front porch of that house. And, curious, I looked more closely at them. All of them were beautiful. Well made. But there was no cat.

'Hello there!'

Of course, I jumped when I heard that voice out of nowhere – but hadn't I come initially looking for someone to lend me directions? 'Hello,' I bowed back. 'I was just – '

'You're interested in the tale of the Zodiac?' The speaker came closer. As tall as Uo-chan but slightly older. 'It's a fascinating story, isn't it?'

'Yes,' I agreed. 'My mother used to tell me the story all the time. But the cat…'

'You know about the cat?' He sounded almost surprised.

'Yes,' I replied. 'And I think it's very sad how the cat missed the banquet and wound up all alone.' I smiled. 'I'm a big fan of cats, you see.'

'Really?' He seemed to be asking something else, or more, but I couldn't tell what. He spoke lightly enough, but there was just something about him…

Still, I nodded enthusiastically.

'But you're a dog, aren't you?'

And how had he figured that out just by looking at me. I nodded again.

'Just like me,' he grinned.

So he was a full twelve years older than me! Wow. I looked at him again. He certainly didn't look that old. But he was far too refined to be my age so I suppose he must be.

The figurines suddenly fell over like a pile of dominoes, shattering on the porch.

The man growled – and then I noticed a rat in the mix as well.

'We're already late,' the rat snapped. 'And you're wasting your time with these.'

'I have a guest,' said the man calmly. 'Which reminds me – ' He turned back to me suddenly, while I was still trying to process the fact that the rat – the cute grey little thing, granted – was talking. 'I'm Sohma Shigure. And that over there is Sohma Yuki.'

'Eh!' I exclaimed. 'Sohma-san?'

'We're in the same class,' the rat said calmly – as though there was nothing strange at all at using a classmate's name to describe a talking animal. 'Honda-san, what are you doing here?'

'I – ' Oh right, the cat. 'I was chasing an orange cat and got lost in the woods.'

'The cat.' The rat was suddenly sprouting a scowl. 'So you know the story.'

'She's a fan of the cat, you know?' Shigure-san inserted helpfully.

'In all the times throughout history,' said the rat flatly, 'the cat has never been accepted as a part of the Zodiac. And yet it races ahead as though it will make it to the end. Pathetic.'

'In any case.' Shigure cast a final, mournful, look at his broken figurines, before standing up. 'Yuuki-kun is right. We are late. Forgive us, Honda-san.'

'Ah – ' I was still having trouble following things. 'Not at all –'

And they were out of earshot when I remembered what I needed to ask them. So I did the only thing I could. I chased after them.

But the two of them were surprisingly fast. Shadows through the forest accompanied by chitters and barks, and after a bit I could only follow the barks because the only thing ahead of me and to all sides were trees. Endless trees that provided no landmark at all.

And then there was the rat Shigure-san had called by my classmate Sohma-san's name, and a pale yellow rabbit with brown-tipped ears and a watch.

'Kyo-kun's already here,' the rabbit said brightly. 'You're late, Yuuki-kun, Shigure-san.'

'Respect your elders,' the rat muttered.

I wondered how they could tell which one of them were older with different species – and I didn't see Shigure-san anywhere. Just the rat…riding on a black dog? How had I missed that earlier? Maybe I missed Shigure-san as well – but although I looked, I couldn't see him at all.

And then the dog and the rat stepped forward and vanished as well. And the rabbit snapped his watch shut. 'Almost done, almost done,' he said in a singsong voice. 'Except I'm bored now. Hatori-san, why did you make me wait up here?!'

I didn't know who Hatori-san was, but I did need directions and it seemed the yellow rabbit needed someone to talk with…even if only for a little bit. I wondered how much time I had, just in case – and that's when I noticed my watch was stuck.

Which meant I could wind up terribly late for school and not even realise.

But the rabbit had a clock, didn't he? She?

'Ano – ' I began, but didn't get any further because the rabbit squealed in happiness.

'Company!'

'I just – ' It landed with a soft plop on my chest, and I grabbed it quickly so it didn't fall back down again.

'Oh,' said the rabbit, blinking. It had red eyes, I realised. Pretty red eyes, but they were squinting, as though the sun was painful…or maybe I was just too close? I moved anyway and set the rabbit gently down. 'You're pretty… And thanks!'

Pretty? It's not every day you get complimented by a rabbit, I guess. 'Thank you.' My cheeks were hot. People – aside from my mother and Hana-chan and Uo-chan – didn't tend to compliment me.

Then again, this was a rabbit.

Who suddenly vanished into yellow smoke.

And when the smoke faded, there was a young boy there instead. Without any clothes on.

I shrieked and stepped back – but there wasn't any ground there. 'Onee-san!' the boy cried, and grabbed for my arm.

He made it, but we fell anyway, down down down the rabbit hole.


	2. Following the Rabbit to Somewhere

**Alice Down the Rabbit Hole**  
 _Chapter 2 – Following the Rabbit to Somewhere_

So at the moment, we're wondering in the world the rabbit hole lead to…though I'm only really calling it a rabbit hole because of Momiji-kun. Momiji-kun who flickers between a rabbit and a boy and I'd rather he just stayed as a rabbit because not only is it dizzying, but it's awkward. Even if he looks about as old as Hana-chan's youngest brother, he's still a boy and I'm a girl who doesn't have male siblings like Hana-chan and therefore have never seen a naked little boy running around the house because they don't want to get into the shower. Even if it's pretty hard to imagine Megumi-kun doing such things now. He's so mature for a thirteen year old, you know?

Momiji-kun looks about the same age, or a little younger, than Megumi-kun. Aside from that though, they're very different. Megumi-kun is quiet and, unless he wants to be, unimpressionable. Momiji-kun on the other hand seems quite excitable.

He reminds me a little of 'kaa-san, actually, the way he bounds with energy and grabs my hand as soon as I'm up (since falling down such a long hole knocks me out for a bit and leaves me with a few lumps and bumps when I wake up) and pulls me along. He's careful though. I don't feel any more sore than when I first woke up and even that begins to fade. It's like getting on a horse again after falling down, like moving instead of letting the bruises take hold and the muscles get stiff and things like that.

So now we're walking down in the twilight tunnel that steadily gets narrower, but doesn't seem to stop Momiji-kun skipping ahead at all.

Soon though, I'm going to have to stoop.

'Ooh.' Momiji-kun suddenly speeds up – and then skids to a stop. 'Oops.'

I run into him and he turns into a fluffy yellow bunny again. 'Oops,' I mirror, because this time it really does seem to be my fault – and there's a monkey in the room with us – and we're in a room.

Oops, I probably should have noticed that we're in a room first off.

'Momiji?' the monkey asks. And then he's suddenly prostrating and gibbering "I'm sorry" until the words tumble into each other.

'What did you do, Ritsu?' Momiji asks, sounding half-amused and half-exasperated.

'I tripped,' the monkey wailed. 'I was just following Ayumi-ni and I tripped and –'

I shriek suddenly because we're not alone. Not just me and a rabbit turned boy turned rabbit and a monkey but something cold and slimy and winding its way up my foot as well.

Momiji jumps, looks me over properly, spots the problem, and laughs. 'Ritsu, can you fetch Ayumi-san please?'

 _Fetch Ayumi-san?_ There's something slimy climbing up my leg and that's what their priority is?!

Granted, the rabbit has tiny little hands and probably isn't very good at getting things off other things. I should do it myself. I can do it myself.

I gulp and look down.

Nope, definitely can't brush a snake off by myself.

But Ritsu, after apologising quite a bit more, plucks the snake off my leg and I can breathe again.

And then there are three puffs of smoke and I shriek for an entirely different reason. Because Momiji pops up again, without his clothes, but there are two other boys as well – or a boy and a man. Or two men.

Oh, who cares? Just where are their clothes?

'You can look now, Nee-san,' Momiji says cheerfully.

And so I looked. There was Momiji-kun all dressed again (and just as I had no idea how he turned into a rabbit and back without any clothes on, I had no idea where he got his clothes from after too), and the other two. One of them had long white hair the colour of the snake, and the other golden hair rather darker than Momiji-kun's and nowhere near as long as the other man.

'I'm sorry,' the golden-haired boy prostates and apologises again, and the other man pokes him until he stops.

'This is Ritsu,' says Momiji, as though there's nothing strange at all. And maybe there's not, for him. 'And this,' pointing at the taller white-haired male, 'is Ayumi. He's Yuki's brother. You've met Yuki, right?'

'Sohma Yuki?' I ask, because that's the only Yuki I know…and I didn't know he had a brother. Then again, we're only classmates. We don't know each other that well. There's no reason I should know he has a brother…that can turn into a snake?

Well, Shigure-san introduced me to Yuki the rat, so maybe there's something going on there.

'We're all Sohmas,' Momiji-kun says in a matter-of-fact voice, before blinking up at me when I stare at him in return. 'I didn't mention that?'

'No,' I manage, after a pause. 'You didn't. So you're all a big family?' That sounds kind of nice…if rather crazy, considering. 'How do you do that, anyway?'

'It's a curse,' Ayumi says solemnly. 'A beautiful curse that has us all in its grip.'

'It's a curse,' Momiji agrees, looking serious as well. 'Technically, you're not supposed to know, but since you've already seen…'

'Oh?' Ayumi grins suddenly and that throws me off because I expect it from Momiji but not from the other two. 'Did little Momiji-kun make a big boo-boo?'

'It wasn't me,' Momiji wailed, suddenly turning on the waterworks as well. Now that was more like the age he appeared…or younger. Still, Uo-chan always teased Megumi-kun about not doing exactly that. Then again, his way seems to be more effective. 'It was all Kyo's fault!'

Ayumi sighed. 'That stupid cat. Or my adorable little brother would say that, wouldn't he?'

Now that I think about it, I think Yuki the rat did say something like that.

Still, I don't understand how they can turn into animals and back…or are they animals turning into humans and back? I suppose it doesn't really matter. I'd be more tempted to think it's a dream if one of my best friends couldn't read electrical waves and her baby brother couldn't curse people just by speaking their name. And my dreams weren't usually so…touchy-feely, either. Can you touch anything in your dream? I tend to just phase through everyone and everything…

Anyway, we continued on except now we were four people heading into nowhere. Ritsu kept in tripping in front of me and then apologising and the other two were having a conversation behind us and I only caught little snippets which didn't really add up. The gist of it seemed to be about me though. Momiji had already said I wasn't supposed to know…about the curse? About how they turned into animals and back? And yet its' too late now, and we are merrily on our way…and running late to something entirely different.

'Ooh,' Ritsu exclaims suddenly. 'There's Hiro-kun and Kisa-chan.'

Hiro-kun and Kisa-chan turn out to be a boy and a girl who look to be a little younger than Momiji-kun. Kisa-chan immediately hides behind Hiro-kun, and Hiro-kun glares when he sees us.

Oh wait, when he sees _me_. His face softens as he returns the greetings from the other. And then he glares at me. 'What's _she_ doing here?'

'Kyo's fault,' Momiji says cheerfully.

'It's not.' I wave my hands, not even sure who this Kyo is. 'I just saw an orange cats in the woods near I live and followed, then I met Shigure-san, then I saw a dog and a rat and followed them, and then I ran into Momiji-kun here and we fell down a hole.'

'And what idiot follows a strange animal in the woods anyway?' Hiro asks, sounding none too impressed. 'Actually, what idiot lives on private property in the woods?'

'Come again?' What did that mean?

'The Sohmas own the land around Shigure's mansion,' Ayumi explains. 'Actually, the Sohmas own almost everything, but the entire woods are Sohma property so if you're living there…'

'Uhh…' I really don't want to explain this, and get kicked out, but what other choice to I have.

Hang on, the land belongs to Shigure-san? Maybe I can convince him to let me pay rent and stay there.'

'That complicates things,' Ayumi said thoughtfully, before grinning. 'Oh dear, looks like the pretty miss is off to the mad king –'

'Don't call Akito-san that,' Ritsu begs. 'He'll be so mad.'

'True, but he can't hear me right here, can he?'

Who are they talking about now?

Hiro-kun is looking suddenly uncomfortable too, and Kisa-chan is tugging at his arm. 'You lot are dawdling,' he mutters. 'Just send her to Hatori-san.'

'That's what I was doing,' Momiji grumbles, before taking my hand again.

'Actually,' I interrupt. 'Is it possible to see Shigure-san?'

They stare at me.

'Why?' Momiji-kun asks.

'Well,' I blush, 'it's about the living in the woods thing.'

Hiro-kun shrugs. 'Just go that way.' He points, and for the first time I notice the path forks.

I'm not being very observant today, am I?

In any case, I thank him, try to say "hi" to Kisa and get shot down, and then wave "bye" to the others and head down the path Hiro-kun gestured at.

I stop after a bit and turn around. The others are almost out of sight and far smaller than they should be. I guess they've turned into animals again.

I turn back to the path I've been sent on and don't stop until I almost get run over by a charging boar.

And then I find myself in an empty field and somehow I've lost the road.


	3. Following an Empty Field to Answers

**Alice Down the Rabbit Hole  
** _Chapter 3 - Following an Empty Field to Answers_

I wonder around the field and call for someone. No-one comes and the boar's long out of earshot by the time I gather my wits and start to call.

So I wonder around some more, and at some point I stumble over the orange cat I'd been chasing from the get go.

'Oh,' I exclaim. 'I've been looking for you – wait!'

Because as soon as I said "looking for you", the cat bolted. And we ran in circles until the cat turned into a boy and I tripped and buried my head into the grass until he was dressed.

'What are you doing?'

His voice was a little throaty. Maybe it's a side-effect from coughing up furballs as a cat – or do humans that turn into cats not do that? In any case, it's a silly thing to be fixated on.

'Are you dressed?' I ask instead. My voice comes out muffled and there's grass and dirt on my tongue. Considering I've been living in a tent though, I've had worse things on my tongue. I can wait a bit to spit it out. Wait until he's dressed, at least.

There was a sigh. 'Yeah, I'm dressed. And why are you even here?'

'Umm…' Now, how do I admit I was chasing him? 'Well, you see, I spotted this adorable orange cat in the woods – ' Oops, he's glaring.

I guess I did just call him adorable.

'So you just followed all the way down into this hell-hole?' The boy shakes his head. His hair is orange, I notice, just like the fur on his cat form. Just like Momiji-kun's hair is the same colour as the fur on the rabbit he becomes. 'How idiotic can you be?'

I pouted. I couldn't help it. It just wasn't the same when a kid who looks like he's only ten is calling you an idiot (because that is some levels of cute despite the insult), and totally different when the guy has to be at as old as you at the _least_ (because he's taller than me too, but then again, so is most of my class) except maybe Sohma Yuki but then again, I've never tried measuring my height against Yuki-san…

'What were you even doing in the woods?'

Oh dear. We're back to this and I haven't even found Shigure-san again… 'Well,' I hedged, 'you see –' Maybe he'd get impatient and move onto a new question. He's been going through them pretty quickly.

No such luck. He just glares at me, then rubs his brow and looks away and half-mumbles, 'the answer?'

Well, how can I not answer him like that? He looks almost shy! 'I live nearby,' I say. Maybe I can get away with not explaining the tent, at least. 'And I had a bit of time before school, so I was just taking a walk in the woods and that's when I saw…well…'

'Me,' said the boy bluntly.

'Guess so.' Now it's my turn to play with my hair. 'Then there was a grey rat Shigure-san called Yuki-san from class, and then there was the yellow rabbit that turns into Momiji-san –'

'You saw all _that_?' He looks alarmed for a moment, before schooling his expression back down to plain grumbled. 'Of course, they're all going to blame me –'

'But it's not your fault!' I exclaim. 'I mean, I'm the one who was curious and I thought you were just an ordinary cat at the time.'

'Of course,' the boy grumbles. 'And technically, it's Shigure who blabs about the idiot rat, and that rabbit who turns back into human and lets the entire can of worms out –'

I suppose I can see why he avoided the cat out of the bag idiom in this setting –

Hold on… Cat, rat, rabbit… and then there's the snake and the monkey and the boar…

'Ayumi-san called it a curse,' I say slowly. 'Does it have anything to do with the Zodiac?'

The boy stares at me, and then scowls so heavily I "eep" and step back, and he rubs his forehead again. 'They really _have_ let the entire can of worms out.'

'I'll take that as a yes?' I venture, when he says nothing else.

'Might as well,' the boy sighs. 'You're screwed anyway.'

I'm…what?

Of all the hedging the others have done, this is the first hint of this secret of the Sohmas being _dangerous_.

The boy sighs again at my expression. 'It's like this,' he says, 'and I may as well tell you this since you know everything else anyway. There are twelve animals of the zodiac, then the cat who's not technically a part of the zodiac but a part of the curse anyway. And then there's the God.'

'The God who invited the animals to the banquet?' I ask.

'Of course that God,' the boy snaps, before sighing. 'Sorry. I have…a temper.'

'It's fine.' And I manage not to squeak too. Go me!

'Anyway.' He still looks flustered. I wish I could make him feel more comfortable – but I'm lost in the middle of a field at the bottom of a rabbit hole and have just discovered that curses where humans can turn into animals and back exist.

At least I already knew curses exist. Who knows how crazy this would have seemed without that!

'You know the story of the Zodiac, right?' the boy asks.

And that reminds me… 'I do!' I exclaim. 'And it's always so sad that the cat gets left out –'

'I don't need pity,' the boy snaps.

'I-it's not pity,' I stutter. 'I always c-cry when my mother tells me the story.'

Oh, am I crying now? I am.

The boy looks uncomfortable again, and fishes around his pockets until he hands me a handkerchief.

'Thank you,' I say, touched, and dab at my eyes.

The boy just shrugs. 'Never seen someone burst into tears about the Zodiac story. Everyone hates the cat, you know.'

'But that's not fair,' I say. 'It's not the cat's fault the rat tricked everyone. It's not really the rat's fault either. He just wants to go to the banquet. They all just want to go to the banquet. If anything, it's the god's fault for only having twelve spots when he invited thirteen animals!'

The boy snorts at that. 'Don't go telling Akito that.'

And that's the second time I've heard that name. 'I take it this Akito-san is the god in this reincarnation of the curse?'

'Exactly that.' The boy rubs his forehead again. Must be the third time, at least. It's a quirk of his, I guess.

'By the way.' I realise he hasn't introduced himself. 'What's your name?'

'Huh?' He blinks as though he's completely forgotten. 'Oh, I'm Kyo.'

'I'm Honda Tohru.' Since it's only fair he knows my name as well.

And then he just continues with his explanation. I wonder if he even heard my name. Oh well. I can repeat it if he asks again.

'Akito is very strict about things,' Kyo says. 'And one of those things is that we're not allowed to let anyone find out about the curse. There are also rules about marriages and other manners of relationship, and who can work where and live where… Essentially, he controls every aspect of our lives. And this is the day of the banquet. And it's about to start.'

I remember him, as the orange cat, yelling about how he was going to be late. And I realise I'm holding him up. 'I'm so sorry!' I exclaim. 'You were running late before and I –'

He snorts. 'The cat is shut out of the banquet,' he reminds me, and I flush.

And then frown. 'He makes you come to the banquet only to stand outside until it's done?'

'Pretty much.' And the cat flops down on the grass. 'At least it's not snowing this time. Or a dust storm or something.'

'He makes you stand outside in that?' I'm even more horrified, if that's at all possible.

But Kyo just shrugs as though he's used to it.

He _is_ used to it, I realise. How many banquets have there been? How often do they happen? From the looks of his eyes as he stares at the grass, far too many.

'That's not fair,' I say again. 'Akito-san doesn't have to go that far.'

'The curse will kill him,' Kyo says bluntly. 'The rest of us turn into animals when we're stressed or tired or touched by someone of the opposite gender, but the curse is slowly killing him. And the curse manifests as the animals of the zodiac. In other worlds, we're the ones killing him.'

'That's…' But how can I say that's not true? I only discovered the curse today, and all I know I've learned from Momiji-kun and Ayumi-san and Kyo right now.

'You'd better go now,' says Kyo. 'You don't want to run into Akito. And if you're wandering around here alone, it's not my fault you wandered back out to the woods at least.'

'How do I get to the woods?' I ask because, honestly, that sounds like a far better idea than trying to find the Hatori-san Momiji-kun mentioned, or even Shigure-san, in this place I don't even know.

Kyo shrugs. 'We only arrive at the banquet,' he says. 'It's the god who controls when and how we leave.'


	4. Following the Balls to the Banquet

**Alice Down the Rabbit Hole  
** _Chapter 4 - Following the Balls to the Banquet_

I hover around with Kyo for a bit until he snaps at me to leave him alone, so I do. And then I wander, equally alone. I wander until I find a garden and from there, landmarks start making a bit of sense again. There are lots of cats – which strikes me as odd until I realise they're only cat _heads_.

Real cat heads, unfortunately, which makes me freak out at first and then feel so sorry for them. So I try and bury the ones I find. Until I run into someone collecting the balls. Someone with white and black hair and who scowls, then grins, when he sees me.

'And who are you?' he asks.

'Honda Tohru,' I reply. 'I'm sorry, but I'm a little lost.'

'You're a lot lost,' the boy corrects. 'So you're the stray the cat dragged in?'

'Well, it wasn't Kyo-san per say,' I begin, before realising it probably wasn't a smart thing to say Kyo's name if this whole thing is supposed to be a secret I've stumbled into.

'So you know.' The boy shakes his head. 'I'm guessing someone thought there wouldn't be much harm since you'll likely lose your memories anyway.'

'What?' I squeak. Nobody mentioned _that_.

But the boy continues as if he hasn't heard me. 'But really, letting you wander around like this… if you'd wound up outside, you'd have skipped away with your memories intact –'

'Why will I lose my memories?' I interrupt again. 'I mean, it was just an accident I wound up down here – and a bit of curiosity as well, but Momiji-kun was really nice and so were the others and Kyo-san –'

The boy looks at me. 'Sounds like you've had an adventure.'

'Well…yeah,' I agree. 'Guess I kind of have.'

'Anyway.' He sighs. 'It's not your fault at all, but we have to keep these things top secret. There'll be trouble if anything gets out.'

'I won't tell anyone,' I promise.

He shrugs. 'They even wipe the memories of some of our parents, you know?'

'Our?' Then that particular piece clicks into place and I'm horrified. 'Your own parents?'

'Momiji's, for one,' says the boy. He doesn't mention his own…and I guess it's not my business anyway. It's horrifying enough that _anyone_ 's parents are made to forget their own kids. 'And Hatori's fiancé. And the kids Yuki used to play with… The list goes on.'

'That's…' My eyes sink to all the cat heads scattered about us. 'This is a nightmare.'

'Something like that,' the boy agrees.'

But I shake my head. 'It's not fair. It's not right… But that doesn't mean I should just forget about it and go on with my life.' It doesn't, because now that I do know, I can do something…can't I? Even if it's something simple, like giving Momiji-kun a hug when his own mother can't…but no, he'll turn into a rabbit again, won't he?

Well, if he doesn't mind getting turned into a rabbit when I hug him, I won't mind it either. And I could have sat with Kyo-san more and talked to him if he had let me… Maybe we just need to know each other better, and I'd love to. He's the cat of the zodiac after all and I'll love him as much as I love all other cats…

'You're crying,' says the boy.

'I'm crying because of the cats,' I say, 'and poor Kyo-san sitting in a lonely and empty field but not letting me stay with him, and this curse that binds you to something you don't want to be and makes you hide down here when there's a beautiful sun shining outside, and… and… even Akito-san who has to die early because he was born as the god of the zodiac and I guess he didn't chose that either, did he..?'

The boy stares at me, then his expression softens and he shakes his head. 'You're something else,' he says. 'But I'm afraid there's no compromising with Akito-san. As for the cats…' He looks a little abashed. 'We all hate the curse. But the animal we hate the most is the cat. It's part of the curse. And because we can hate the cat, we can feel a little better about ourselves. It's horrible, but it's the way for the rest of us to keep moving forward – and the cat bears all our hatred as well as his own. That's _his_ curse. And the God's is to keep us all close and safe. That's why Akito-san's so strict. He has to be. As the head of the Sohma family. As the God.'

'That's…' I sniff. It's still sad. Nothing this boy is saying is making it any less sadder. In fact, he's just making it sadder because the way Kyo-san talked about him made me mad and so do the cats, but hearing about how he has to die for just being born as the God is another thing. It's not fair for anyone to be born into this world just to die. Where's the hope in a life like that? Where's the future? And why wouldn't they take it out on others when all they had to look forward to was despair?

The boy sighed again and fished out a handkerchief. 'Here. Stop crying please. I don't want to be in the business of making people cry.'

I chuckled at that. 'You're not,' I pointed out. 'It's…well, the circumstances. By the way, I'm Honda Tohru.'

We've forgotten to introduce ourselves again.

'Sohma Hatsuharu,' says the boy, before glancing back. 'And that's Rin.'

Huh? Who? Then I hear someone making their way towards us – and then there she is. A girl with long (and beautiful!) hair and a stern expression. 'Hatsuharu,' she says, with crossed arms. 'Why are you dawdling?'

Then she sees me and frowns further.

'The stray,' Hatsuharu shrugs. 'You know, the one Momiji-kun tumbled down the rabbit hole with.'

Rin frowns harder, then shrugs and turns. 'The others are waiting,' she says, and walks back out.

'Don't mind Rin,' says Hatsuharu, looking after her. 'But I guess you better come with me. Pretty much the entire family knows you're here, after all.'

Sounds true enough. If the boar was one of the Zodiac members as well, I only haven't met two.

'Where are we going?' I ask.

'To the family. They're all together now anyway.'

So that means Shigure-san, the Hatori-san that's been mentioned a few times, and Akito-san as well.

I don't know if I should be relieved I'm getting somewhere now or absolutely terrified considering what I've heard of Akito-san.

But when I do catch sign of him – and it's easy to pick him out of a crowd even if there are more unfamiliar faces there than simply him – I can't help but pity him.

His eyes are exactly like I imagined: hollow and without hope.

He looks at me a moment – looks me up and down – and then he smiles. 'Welcome, Honda-san.' And he really does sound kind and welcoming except all the other things I've heard bubble up and shatter that image of him.

'I'm sorry for intruding,' I reply. It seems like a better response than "glad to be here"…especially since I'm not supposed to be.

'That's fine,' says the boy airily. 'It's not as though you meant to. A fly that passes by isn't something to spare more than a fleeting glance.'

Which means I'll forget all this and go on with my normal life after all, but…

'I don't want to forget.' I may as well speak plainly. 'I've seen so little…but so much as well. It's half-like a dream. But I've also seen shadow. The pain of the curse. The pain of the cat. And your pain as well?'

' _My_ pain?' His face, handsome like all his relatives, twists into something frighteningly ugly. 'What can you possibly understand about my pain? You don't even know who I am!'

'Sohma Akito-san,' I reply. I know some, at least. 'The head of the Sohma family, and the God of the Zodiac – at least in this reincarnation of the curse.'

He is startled for a moment, and then he glares at his house-members. Some of them shrink back. Momiji-kun. Hatsuharu-san. And Kyo-san isn't here and he's told me a bit as well. But it doesn't matter. It shouldn't have to matter because I'm the one who chased. I'm the one who searched, and who asked.

'I've met almost everyone,' I say, 'except the…' I need to think about this. 'The rooster and the dragon and the horse? Though I guess Rin-san is one of them…' And I was also guessing Hiro-kun and Kana-chan were the sheep and the lion respectively, if only because Hiro-kun had looked pretty white and fluffy at that point and Kana-chan was smaller and I'd already met Ritsu-san by then and Kyo-san after…

'She's the horse,' Hatsuharu inputs helpfully, before quietening with dual glares from Rin-san and Akito-san.

'And I guess I didn't officially _meet_ the boar…'

A brown-haired girl looking a year or two younger than me is looking sheepish. I guess that's her then. Which left the man standing beside Akito-san's chair and the one between Ayumi-san and Shigure-san who had one eye covered by his fringe as the other two.

And there was Yuki-san after all, standing on Akito-san's other side.


	5. Following the Queen to a Sentence

**Alice Down the Rabbit Hole  
** _Chapter 5 - Following the Queen to a Sentence_

Hana-chan and Uo-chan are my best friends, so I guess I have a skewered definition of what's scary, but Akito-san staring me down with the twelve animals of the zodiac in a fading cloud of smoke behind him is pretty close to it.

And at some point I lose my train of thought too and flounder, and then we're all just staring at each other. Kind of. Only Akito-san's really staring at me.

Then he slowly walks down to me. 'Well?' he asks. 'What do you want? Spit it out.'

He sounds annoyed now. Nowhere near like the warm tone he'd welcomed me with before.

I wonder how many more colours of expressions I'll see before the conversation is out. Part of wonders if I should be more frightened at a person like that, who can change spots faster than a kid with chickenpox – and another part of me wonders where the real one Sohma Akito, buried underneath.

'I…have a request,' I admit. 'For Shigure-san.'

Akito turns and scowls at the man, who shrugs and steps forward. 'I can't say I know what this is about,' he says.

'Well…' I flounder, but the spectator is impatient so I push on. 'I've been living in a tent on your property for the last two weeks.'

They all stare at me, with varying expressions. Momiji-kun and those who'd been with him at the time already know, of course, but Hatsuharu is openly gaping and the brown-haired girl I assume is the boar looks somewhat impressed and so, surprisingly, does Yuki-san. Not that it's anything to be impressed about…and the man with the fringe over one eye looks disapproving.

What surprises me the most is Shigure-san – openly laughing. It's not that funny!

And I guess something of that shows up on my expression because he tries to stifle his laughter. Quite unsuccessfully until the man with the fringe over one eye elbows him in the side. 'Sorry,' he gasps, 'but it's just too funny.'

'It's really not,' Yuki-san mutters. 'It's gut – ' But he stops himself before he can finish, looking almost frightened for a moment. But that moment passes and I doubt anyone else sees it. After all, I have a front row seat to their expressions…as they have to mine.

Still, I wonder what he'd been about to say.

Akito-san too gives Yuki-san a searching look, before apparently letting it go. Shigure-san ignores them and just looks at me. 'Go on,' he says, and there's still the undercurrents of laughter there but he also sounds kind. Kind and laughing. Somehow, that sounds pretty natural in his voice.

'I didn't realise it was private property,' I continued, tripping over my words with the next bit. 'See, I live with my grandfather and his house is being renovated and I didn't want to burden him when he went to live with my aunt so I said I had friends to stay with, but they don't really have space so I thought I'd stay in the tent out of everybody's way and didn't realise…'

'We don't need to know your life story,' Hiro-kun mutters, cutting in.

I stutter to a stop, then realise I haven't said the most important thing at all. 'I don't know how long exactly it'll be, but please let me stay there.' I bow deeply and now I can't see their expressions through the curtain of my hair. 'I'll pay rent, and I'll stay out of your way and I won't go wandering around anymore and I'm very sorry about that, so please –'

I cut off again, but this time it's because someone's pulled on my hair and I shriek instead. And when my head's yanked up, I see it's Akito-san and his black yutaka washes most of my vision until he pulls my head back. 'Stay?' he hisses, sounding in that moment more like the snake than Ayumi-san but up close, I can see his eyes screaming as well. 'You wander down here like a lost little fly and now you want to stay on our wall?'

I grip the same chunk of hair as he, before he can rip them from their roots. Because it hurts but it's not as bad as the memory of not saying "goodbye" and "stay safe" to 'kaa-san the one day it mattered the most. It's not as bad as that. It'll never be as bad at that. But I'm crying anyway. I'm crying and I'm saying "I'm sorry" but I still want to stay there. I don't want to flounder in the world, looking for a new place to pitch my tent – if they don't report me to the school or, worse, the police.

'You who've seen almost nothing. Who understands nothing! You who've just stumbled into a dream of Wonderland –'

'It's not Wonderland,' I whisper, interrupting him. 'I know Alice in Wonderland and that's a fairy-tale, but this is reality, your reality, and not once did I think it was a dream or nightmare or anything other than reality. I don't know why but I knew it. Maybe it's because of Hana-chan. Because I've seen with her powers, and Megumi-kun's curses and I know all of that's real and Hana-chan always said there's something different about Sohma-san's waves – I mean – ' But I never get to say which Sohma-san because Shigure-san is suddenly between us, and maybe that's a good thing as well.

Not sure good for who though, but Akito-san lets go of my hair and now it's just a dull ache on my scalp. 'It's fine, Akito,' he says, before turning to me. 'Though living in a tent's not safe, you know.'

'I've managed fine so far,' I manage to say, still rubbing my head. 'I'll be okay. I'm strong!' Okay, I don't mean to be tooting my own horn or anything, but it's a bit confusing when they alternate between pity and anger, though granted they are twelve different people and I guess I should expect twelve different reactions.

'As it so happens,' Shigure-san continues, 'Yuki-san and I are hopeless at cooking.'

'And cleaning, and other matters of domestication,' Yuki-san adds. 'Though where in the world are you going with this, Shigure?'

'And you work part-time too, don't you?' Shigure-san adds.

Now how does he know that? Then again, if he and Yuki-san live together, maybe he told him. 'I do,' I say. 'I clean after hours at –'

They cut me off again.

'Then I hire you!'

We all stare at him. 'Hire you?' I ask, uncertainly.

'As a housekeeper,' Shigure-san clarifies. 'And don't worry, it's entirely innocent.'

Nothing of the sort ever crossed my mine.

'To do the cleaning, washing and cooking, essentially,' he continues. 'Of course, you can walk to school and back with Yuki, and you'll have plenty of time to do your homework, and the spare room has a lock –'

'Shigure,' Akito-san interrupts, and this time, his voice is ice-cold.

Shigure-san stops, turns to Akito-san, and they stare at each other as though in a conversation the rest of us aren't privy to. Their own private conversation. I wonder if there's something between them. Or not between them.

Finally, Akito-san turns away. 'Fine,' he almost spits. 'For what it's worth, you can keep her. But if anyone else finds out, you send her to me straight away.'

And he stalks off. Some follow him. Others hang around. The man with the fringe over one eye shakes his head. 'Jumping into the deep end again, Shigure,' he sighs.

Shigure shrugs and grins. 'What can I say?' he asks. 'I like a girl with spunk, and she hasn't run away screaming. I'd say that gives her points in her favour.'

I wonder what they're talking about.

The man shrugs, then turns to me. 'You can still say no,' he says. 'And I'll erase your memories so all of this will be nothing but a distant dream. This will be a heavier burden than you realise.'

'It won't,' I say earnestly, and I barely have to think about this. 'I mean, I'm fine with the tent, but I'd love to help, and I'd love to know more about the Zodiac, and get to know you all better – ' Including Kyo-san, but I can't mention that right now. I remember what he said. Everyone hates the cat because the cat's at the bottom of the ladder and that's the saddest thing about this all, but the thing that can't so quickly change.

But hatred can be replaced by love. Maybe this can change slowly too. At least I hope. And if I stay, if I keep my memories, maybe I can do something too.

'Naïve,' says the still-unnamed man, before he shrugs, says "good luck in a way I'm not sure is honest or sarcastic, and leaves as well. Momiji also says a "good luck" along with a "sorry" and follows the man – Hatori-san, I assume. And Ayumi-san says something about a maid outfit before Hatori-san returns just long enough to drag him away as well.

Which leaves me with just Shigure-san and Yuki-san. Shigure-san is grinning, but Yuki-san looks serious. 'Are you sure?' he asks.

I nod. 'I am,' I reaffirm.

'Well.' Shigure-san pats my shoulder. 'Congratulations on surviving your first encounter with Akito…and let's try to make that your last as well.'

We're gone suddenly, back to the woods and trailing back to the house I'd seen on the way – Shigure's house. The world underground has spun away like it was never there, and there are no animals either. Just a teen and an adult walking ahead and me trailing behind, and I wonder where the others have gone as well.

'The banquet's over,' Yuki-san explains, turning back and seeing my confusion. 'We don't change so much otherwise. Just if hugged by someone of the opposite gender or if we're unusually stressed.'

I note the "unusually" there and tuck it away. I have time now, time to understand…and hopefully accomplish something as well. 'I'll do my best,' I say, not entirely sure whether it's to not embrace them accidentally, to keep their secret, to help them…or to do the job I've signed up for which, I realise when we enter the house, is going to take a bit of doing.

When they said they couldn't housekeep, they weren't kidding. 'Just how long have you two been living like this?!'

One of them probably answers, but I'm swept away by the mess by then.

Funny how that's far more sufficiently distracting than a tale of curses and a wonderland that's not a wonderland after all. Because I completely forget about school until Yuki-san stops me about half an hour later.

And I only know that because my watch is working again. But my brain is running on overdrive, caught on two too many problems…or something.


End file.
